July 9, 2019 UPDATE
A roundup of domestic and international news.
Newsroom, 09.07.2019, 19:56
GRECO – Romania has made little progress to put in place measures to prevent corruption among parliament members, judges and prosecutors and to address the concerns raised by its controversial judicial reform, the Council of Europes anti-corruption institution GRECO said in two reports published on Tuesday. GRECO is deeply concerned by the fact that the authorities have disregarded the recommendation to abandon the setting-up of the section for the investigation of offences within the judiciary. GRECO also points out that Romanian authorities have not reviewed the rules and practices of the legislative process, have not limited the use of emergency procedures to adopt legislation. Moreover, no effective mechanism has been adopted to enforce the code of conduct of parliamentarians, while the scope of the incrimination of conflicts of interest remains limited. On the other hand GRECO hails the announcement made by Prime Minister Dancila regarding the intention to give up the controversial justice reforms. GRECO will continue to evaluate Romanias complying with the recommendations included in the two reports and has called on the authorities to report back on the progress made by June 30th 2020.
RECOMMENDATIONS – Romania has to take measures to correct the significant deviation from the medium-run budget target, improve tax collection and ensure the public pension system’s sustainability, according to the recommendations made Tuesday by the EU Council for 2019-2020. Romania has to improve the quality and inclusive character of education, especially for Roma people and other underprivileged groups and ensure the improvement of competences, such as the digital ones. Increased access to medical care and a more effective healthcare system are among the recommendations. With regard to the reforms in the justice system, the Council is concerned with the modification of laws, that could undermine the effectiveness of the activity of judges and prosecutors.
ELECTION — The presidential elections in Romania will be held on November 10 this year. The date for the elections was set on Tuesday, through Governmental order. A set of new regulations will be adopted in the upcoming period, to implement the recent modifications to the election laws. Thus, the vote in the Diaspora will last three days and polling stations will remain open after 9 pm if needed. Also, postal voting has been introduced.
CONFERENCE — The Romanian Army Chief of Staff, General Nicolae Ciuca, will attend on July 10 and 11 in New York a conference of the defense ministers, focusing on peace keeping missions held under the United Nations’ umbrella. The conference, currently at its third edition, enjoys the participation of 145 UN member countries and will also be attended by the UN Secretary General. Romania’s participation at the conference is a good opportunity for the country to reiterate its commitments within the United Nations, to maintaining peace and stability at international level.
PSD — The leaders of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the main party of the ruling coalition in Bucharekst on Tuesday began talks on government reshuffle. Thalks might take several weeks, during which the activity of ministries is to be assessed – the partys new leader, Viorica Dancila, has announced. After the assessment, the Social Democrats will decide the ministers to be replaced. According to the Prime Minister, the PSD candidate to the presidential election this fall will be established based on a poll in the first half of August. We recall that Prime Minister Dancila took the helm of the party after the coalitions strongman Liviu Dragnea was arrested on corruption charges. PSD also lost the European Parliament election to the opposition National Liberal Party.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, No. 7 in the world, qualified on Tuesday to the semifinals at Wimbledon, after defeating Chinese Shuang Zhang in two sets. On Monday, Halep outperformed the tournamnets revelation, 15-year-old US challenger Cori Gauff. Haleps best Wimbeldon performance was in 2014, when she made it to the semifinals.
FOOTBALL – Romanias football champions, CFR Cluj was defeated on Tuesday by FC Astana of Kazakhstan, 1-nil, in an away game counting towards the first preliminary round of the Champions League. On Thursday in the first preliminary round of the Europa League, FCSB, formerly known as Steaua Bucharest, will be up against Milsami Orhei of the neighboring Republic of Moldova in a home match, while CSU Craiova will be playing in an away fixture FK Sabail of Azerbaijan. The return games are due next week. Romanian Cup holder, Viitorul Constanta, will be playing directly in the Europa Leagues second preliminary round against Belgian side FC Anvers, coached by former Romanian international Ladislau Boloni. (Translated by Elena Enache)
